The True Meaning
by EchidnaPower
Summary: Both Ron and Kim are well aware of the true meaning of Christmas, and that's why they're volunteering at a church's Bethlehem Revisited event to spread the word. Kim's happy to help and all, but...why is Ron calling her such a weird name? (For Whitem's Fifth Annual Snow Daze Holiday Story Contest)


**Well, I decided I'd throw my hat in the ring for Whitem's Fifth Annual Snow Daze Holiday Story Contest...and...I gotta say, I'm impressed with myself for this one...and at the same time I'm very anxious. I've written things like this before, but they've always been within my comfort zone. Ron however, makes a few things a little bit difficult because of what I want to do with his character. I did some research, but I am by no means perfect. If I'm inaccurate with anything I wrote, please don't take offense, it was not intentional...ahem...with that said, on with the show! I own nothing except the story.  
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To say that Kim was caught off-guard by the request would be an understatement. Calls for help hadn't come along all that often anymore since the Lorwardian Invasion had been defeated by her boyfriend and partner in crime-fighting, Ron Stoppable. But what caught her off-guard wasn't the fact that the request had come in, not at all. In fact, she had actually been hoping to get some sort of hit on her website as she'd been wanting something to do with Christmas coming up soon and her winter break just getting started.

When Wade made the call on the Kimmunicator, her body surged with adrenaline in anticipation of the mission she'd been craving. Whether it was Dementor with some new and even more convoluted plan to get his grubby mitts on her battle-suit or if it was just Frugal Lucre threatening to cut off access to online shopping to increase the price of gasoline during the holidays, she was ready to go in guns-a-blazing (so to speak) and take them down.

So it was with great disappointment that she found out that the call was not because of a villain causing trouble, although in hindsight maybe that was for the best. It was with great surprise that she found out that the call was actually coming from Ron's Rabbi and their mutual friend Gerry Katz, whom Ron had gone to visit as he'd been wanting to speak with him about something. It was with great embarrassment that she accepted the Rabbi's request for help on the event that his friend's church was working on, as it required her to be Ron's wife.

"Shalom, and enjoy your time in the city!" Kim kept a wide smile on her face until the last of the current group of guests had moved on to the next booth. Once she was sure they were gone, she gave a long sigh and fell back onto a burlap covered stool that had been refurbished specifically for the occasion. "What a night."

"Yes, it certainly has been a very productive evening!"

Kim rolled her eyes, a tinge of amusement playing on her lips aimed at her enthusiastic boyfriend. "Ron, the next group won't come for a few minutes, you can drop the shtick."

"You are speaking strangely tonight, have the travelers been teaching you these new words?"

Kim gave a small growl and crossed her arms, the slight amusement had quickly transformed into something more violent. "Seriously Ron, I can only take so much of this _old style _speak before my brain starts to melt, and right now, I'm pretty sure I can feel something sloshing inside my skull." Kim got up and looked her boyfriend dead in the eye, "So unless you wanna spend the rest of the night without your 'wife', I would suggest coming back to the twenty-first century while you can."

Ron gulped slightly and chuckled nervously, "Sorry KP, just tryin' to stay in character ya know? Rule number one and all that."

"Yes, I know, you make a great Israelite Ron, really." Kim's expression softened slightly. "And I can tell you're really enjoying yourself too, and believe it or not, so am I. I've seen so many kids come through here tonight and they're totally engrossed in the experience right from the moment they walk through those gates."

Ron scratched the back of his neck, "Well gee Kim, I-I know the sheep can sometimes smell real bad, and don't even get me _started _on the horses!" Ron plugged his nose in remembrance before continuing, "But I wouldn't say these kids are _engrossed _or anything, they seem to be enjoying this!"

That brought a genuine smile to the redhead's lips as she relinquished a small giggle, "Ron, engrossed doesn't mean they're _grossed out, _it means they're totally into it!" Kim walked out from behind the booth and looked down the dirt road that was lit up by several torches, where many kids, teens and even adults were all listening to several booth workers doing their assigned speeches and interacting with the guests. "This Bethlehem Revisited thing is one of the most heartwarming things I've ever seen in my life, and I'm glad I can come and help out with it...it's just some of the rules we have to follow that bug me is all."

Ron smiled, "Is this about the whole 'no makeup' deal?"

Kim scowled, "It's crazy! I mean, no makeup _at all?"_

Ron came from behind the booth and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "You know why that matters KP, Jane explained it during the volunteers meeting. There was no such thing as makeup during those times, and we gotta-"

"Stay in character, I _know."_ Kim huffed, "It's not like anyone would notice some base, not when the only lights around are these candles and torches everywhere." she mumbled under her breath, "And these clothes?" she gestured at herself out loud. "I mean, I get that we're supposed to look like Israelites and all, but something about robes that at least five different people have worn before me..." she shuddered, "It just makes my skin crawl."

Ron just shook his head in amusement, "Jane offered to let you be one of the angels in the stable room, they needed girls with endurance and coordination to make sure everyone was on the same page, _and _they're the only ones who _are _allowed to wear makeup and not hide their hair if it's anything other than black or brown." he leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Israelites weren't exactly known for gorgeous red hair like yours ya know." he tugged playfully at her headdress which had the very difficult duty of wrapping around Kim's long and full red mane of hair and keeping it concealed.

Kim blushed a little, and she remembered exactly why she had turned down the offer to act as an angel in the first place. She turned her head to look at her boyfriend and give him a small smile. "I'm sorry Ron, I'm complaining for no reason and it's ferociously selfish of me. I _could've _been an angel if I wanted to, but Rabbi Katz asked me to be your wife for the night, and I wanted to spend the night with you. I was willing to sacrifice certain luxuries then, and I still am now."

Ron smiled affectionately as he watched Kim walk back over to their assigned shop, a tentmaker shop where he and Kim were to do their best to "sell" their wares and explain how they weaved fabric for tents as if they were in Bible times. _"My wife..." _he thought to himself, _"Even if this is just pretend, can't help but feel like this is right..." _But then Ron's smile disappeared as other thoughts came to the forefront of his mind. Kim had shown a certain amount of apprehension to being referred to as his wife, and that bothered him greatly. _"Can't let this get to me." _he shook his head, his headdress swinging back and forth as he did so, _"Kim was just caught off-guard, that's all. Stay in character Stoppable, rule number one, two and three! You are Amnon the Tentmaker!" _Ron looked at Kim as she adjusted her headdress before taking up her basket of fabrics again, and he smiled lovingly at her. _"And Kim...is your beautiful wife Hephzibah...booyah."_

Suddenly the man dressed as a Roman soldier on the top of the gate banged his homemade spear against the gate's floor, "Open the gates!"

"Well Ron, here we go again."

"Indeed Hephzibah," Ron said, using the name he had chosen for her. "Let us do our best to make a sale this fine night."

As the doors opened and more guests entered into the church's recreation of Bethlehem, Kim couldn't help but grimace. _"I really wish he'd stop calling me that."_

Once again, Ron threw himself completely into his character. His knowledge of Jewish customs and traditions had more than once come in handy so far tonight, as many people had come in seemingly with the sole intention of testing how well the actors knew what it was they were trying to portray. Ron had yet to send anyone away without a smile on their face. "Shalom travelers, and beware the Roman soldiers for they are quite hostile this evening." Two little girls walked away laughing with their parents guiding them by the hand, they'd clearly already interacted with the 'mean' old soldiers once before.

Once they were out of earshot, Kim got up and nudged Ron's shoulder with her own, "How do you do it?" she whispered.

"Do what my dear wife?"

Kim rolled her eyes before continuing, "This all seems so natural to you. You explain what the tents are made of and how they're made, make your sales pitch and then talk to them as if you're actually from Bible times! If I didn't know better, I'd say I have to call Wade and check to make sure you're still my Ronnie."

Ron smiled and made sure no guests were around to hear. "This is kinda a tradition for me KP, every year this church puts up these walls and does their best to explain the true meaning of Christmas, and I do my part to help. I'm not even talking about the Six Tasks of Snowman Hank either. I do this for Yahweh as much as I do it for me."

Kim now looked very uncomfortable, "But why help them? I mean...I hate to get all deep here Ron...but...I thought Jews didn't...what I mean is, they don't..."

Ron smiled reassuringly, "Believe that Yeshua is who He said He is?" Ron kissed her forehead after she nodded with a remorseful frown. "You don't have to be uncomfortable KP, my family follows the Jewish customs and all that, but we aren't orthodox or anything. Heck, if I was, I'd be in serious trouble for all the junk food I eat. Bueno Nacho? Most definitely _not _kosher. We're _Messianic _Jews, we believe pretty much the same things _your _family does."

Kim smiled bashfully, "And here I thought I'd learned everything about you."

"That's the beauty of being best friends KP, no matter how much we know about each other, there's still more to learn." Ron stood up straight and smiled when he saw a little blonde girl running over to their booth, all bundled up in a pink parka. "Shalom little traveler, welcome to Amnon's tent shop. is there something I can help you with?"

The girl nodded her head bashfully. "I wanted to-to buy a tent, so my fwiend can have sweepover outside!" she squeaked out in her little voice.

"Very good then!" Ron got out from behind the booth and grabbed the two sample fabrics before kneeling down in front of the shy girl who had her hands behind her back. "Now then, did you want the softer one to keep you warm at night, or did you want the harder one that will let the sun shine through?"

The girl gingerly stroked both fabrics, before pointing at the soft white fabric in Ron's left hand. "That one!"

"Excellent choice! You have very good taste!" Ron gently poked the girl's nose, which made her giggle. "So do you have any shekels with which to buy your tent?"

"Uh?" the girl shook her head, "What are shekews?"

"Why, that is our form of currency, do you not have any?"

The girl looked helplessly on until a figure dressed in black familiar to both Kim and Ron came from behind her and knelt down next to her, placing a gloved hand on her shoulder. "He means money Sarah, do you have money?"

Kim had to keep her jaw from dropping when she saw Tara King of all people come from seemingly out of nowhere. She thought she'd seen a shock of platinum blonde hair in the last crowd, but she never imagined it would belong to the bubbly ex-Mad Dog Cheerleader she'd come to call her friend. _"Now I recognize that girl, that's Tara's little sister Sarah!"_

"I am afraid if you have no shekels with which to purchase my tents, I cannot make you one." Ron said in mock-regret. When the girl frowned, Ron motioned for Kim to come over and to bring her basket of small fabrics with her. "But because you are perhaps the most beautiful traveler I have seen come into Bethlehem tonight, I will give you a small gift." Ron took one of Kim's small fabric squares and showed it to Sarah, "You see my wife Hephzibah is the greatest embroider in Bethlehem, she makes all of our designs and she has made us many shekels with her art." Ron failed to catch Kim's veiled scowl.

Quickly getting back into character, Kim knelt down and simply placed the small white square with a red embroidered flower gently into Sarah's hands. "I want you to have this and keep it with you as a reminder of visiting our shop. But do not tell anyone that I have given this to you, this is a special gift just for you."

"Ok!" the girl hugged Kim, and the normally unflappable world-class hero froze as she had no idea how to react in-character to a display of affection like this. But considering the nature of the affectionate gesture, Kim eventually decided to simply hug her back. "Tank you Heppy!"

"You are quite welcome." Kim stood back up and glanced at Tara, who was trying her best not to be overcome by emotion. "You have a very beautiful daughter traveler, make sure you teach her a proper trade so that she may find a good husband to be married to!"

"Mawwied?! Ew! I'm onwy fouw!" Sarah shook her head.

While Kim and Ron had to do their best to act natural, Tara simply burst into laughter at her baby sister's response. "Don't worry Sarah, you won't have to worry about that for a while. But Amnon and Hepibah think I'm your mommy, am I your mommy Sarah?"

Sarah shook her little head even more violently, "No! She's my sistew! My mommy's ovew thewe!" she pointed over at the perfumer's shop, where a tall blonde woman was currently sampling many different natural fragrances. "What's mommy doing Tawa?"

Tara got out the last of her giggles and scooped up her sister into her arms with a slight groan from the weight, "Let's go find out huh? Say shalom to Amnon and Hepibah!"

Sarah grinned and waved at them, "Shalom!"

As they walked away, Tara gave the couple a meaningful and grateful smile, "Thanks." she mouthed silently.

Ron walked into the shop and smiled wistfully, sitting down on the burlap covered stool and repositioning the fabrics for the next crowd that would arrive momentarily. "That's what it's all about Kim," he said with a slight waver in his voice, "Now when they eventually get to the stable and see the baby, she'll be totally convinced that it's Yeshua Himself laying in that manger. It's not just a play, it's an experience like no other."

Kim couldn't help but gaze adoringly at her boyfriend, his childlike wonder was in full display at the moment, but channeled in a way that made him seem like a doting father rather than an immature child. It was during moments like this when Kim felt the most attracted to him, and she desperately wished the night was over so she could kiss him in a fashion that most definitely would not be classified as in-character. But, the mission wasn't over yet, _"Head in the game Possible, it's not over yet."_ Settling for a slow and lingering buss on Ron's stubble covered cheek, Kim went back to her spot and picked up her basket of embroidered fabrics, "You need to shave _Amnon."_

"I merely grew it out for the occasion _Hephzibah."_

Kim grimaced again, the warm and fuzzy feeling now completely gone, "Ron, about this name you chose for me-"

"OPEN THE GATES!"

"Game on KP, let's do this!"

Kim growled and pasted a now obviously fake smile onto her face as the next group of people came through and Ron began addressing them, _"What a ridiculous name, couldn't he have at least picked something people can PRONOUNCE?"_ After a few more minutes, the last of that group of people trailed off and began looking at other areas. Some had gone over to the blacksmith across from their wooden booth, while others had hurried around the corner to sample some of the Bethlehem bakery's bread. _"Really must be the atmosphere of this place, you'd think they'd notice it's just warmed-up bread from Smarty Mart." _she thought grumpily, still put off about the name.

"Uh oh..." Ron mumbled before leaning in to whisper in Kim's ear, "KP, trouble at one 'o' clock!"

Kim looked over to where Ron was referring to, and the redhead's skin paled when she realized who Ron must have seen, "Oh no, not her...anyone but her." Kim blanched further when she saw that the person in question had spotted them, and was now grinning somewhat maliciously at her. "I can't...I'm not..."

"Shh, Kim," Ron whispered, "Just relax, and don't talk, I'll take care of ol' Bon Bon." Ron stood up straight and smiled, just as none other than Bonnie Rockwaller sauntered over with her rich and evil (but didn't want to be evil) boyfriend, Senor Senior Junior. "Shalom travelers, welcome to Bethlehem, are you looking for a place to stay for the night?"

"As a matter of fact we _are!" _Bonnie said in a sickeningly sweet voice, "Junior, you _did _make sure to book that _fabulous _hotel nearby for later?" she glanced at Kim, an almost villainous gleam in her eye.

Junior just scratched his head. "Hotel? I was not aware we were in need of a place to stay mi Bonita corazón." Junior then spotted the perfumer's shop and his eyes widened with childish glee, "Ooh! Fragrances, I wonder if they have anything to take care of this dreadful animal smell!" Junior rushed off, leaving a frustrated cheerleader in his dust.

"Never mind." Bonnie growled before turning back to Kim with a sickly sweet smile, "How's it hangin' _K?_ Enjoying being a founding member of the fashion never-evers?"

Instead of letting Kim get a chance to respond, Ron got in front of Kim and frowned at the leggy brunette, "Ma'am, your tone towards my wife Hephzibah seems quite hostile," Ron was completely unaware of the horrified look on Kim's face, "I must ask that you direct all further communications towards me."

Bonnie gaped in shock before she began to snicker, which eventually morphed into a full out cackle, "H-Heph-wha?! Th-th-that's the most ridicu-hahaha! Wow K, I knew your boyfriend could be a dope, but naming you after some weird, imaginary tropical disease really takes the loser cake!"

As Bonnie continued to laugh, Kim gave her deepest scowl of the night and slipped out unnoticed, _"Leave it to Bonnie to ruin what was one of the most magical winter nights I've ever been a part of."_

Bonnie's laughter had garnered the attention of several other guests, and they had all come over to see what was so funny. "S-So what do you do for an encore Stoppable? You make her wash your feet?"

Ron grinned inwardly. Now that he had an audience, he could go all out. "Ma'am, I know not who you are, but from what I can tell you are _clearly _not from Bethlehem."

"Gee, what was your first clue? The actually fashionable wardrobe choices?"

"If you do not mind my asking, what is your trade?"

"My trade? Like, my job? Yeah, it's exposing losers like you."

"Hmm, I am not aware of this particular trade, I am afraid you will never find a husband with such useless skills such as your own."

Bonnie stopped laughing, "Hello, I _have _a _boyfriend_, and what do you mean _married? _That's ridiculous, I'm only nineteen."

"Nineteen?!" Ron gasped, "You are already _far_ too old to be married! No self-respecting man would _ever _marry someone as old as you are, it is a miracle that you still have all of your teeth!"

The crowd around them began to laugh, and Bonnie growled when she realized they weren't laughing _at _Ron. "What are you trying to pull Stoppable?" she hissed.

"I do not know what you mean by that, but I maintain that nineteen is already far too old for you to be married off to anyone, I regret that you will likely forever be a virgin and never have the pleasure of bearing children."

"I'm not-" Bonnie quickly bit her tongue, "I'll take care of that when the proper time comes." she growled through clenched teeth, "My boyfriend's rich, I don't _need _to get a job."

"He is rich you say? Has he given you any shekels?"

"Any what?"

"Currency ma'am, surely you have not come to Bethlehem without the intention to shop in our fabulous marketplace."

"We're not _in _Bethlehem loser!" she threw her hands up in the air, "This is Middleton, Colorado, and we're surrounded by wooden planks painted to look like walls, and your 'tent shop'," she used air-quotes, "Is just a wooden box covered in gross burlap with tacky decorations! I wouldn't even _be _here if my mom wasn't working in the back and if Junior wasn't so curious that he begged me to come in and see this!"

"Is there a problem here?" a growling voice asked.

Bonnie flinched and slowly turned around, and there was an absolutely gigantic man dressed as a Roman soldier glaring down at her, "I...I..."

"Sir, please, take this crazy woman away, she is disturbing my customers, she actually believes we are not in Bethlehem!"

The man growled at Ron for a moment, as was his obligation when acting as a Roman soldier, and then he grabbed her arm and started dragging her away, "We will be coming for your taxes Amnon!" the guard barked as he dragged Bonnie off. "Step aside! HAIL CAESAR!" The guard and Bonnie both disappeared into the side of the wall where there was a burlap curtain, and Bonnie's angry protests could be heard almost throughout the entire area.

With Bonnie taken care of, Ron turned his attention to the crowd that had gathered. "I am indeed sorry for that unfortunate display, I have never seen a woman who was so stark-raving mad before in all my life." Ron grinned, "Now, as long as you all are here, I believe some of you are still in need of a tent?" Ron held up the soft fabric. "Just three shekels and I will have my best tentmakers working on it right away!" Knowing the guests weren't interesting in hearing his sales pitch again, Ron was delighted to see that the gathered crowd just walked away, some even chuckling to themselves a little before going about their business once more. "How was that KP?" he said once everyone was out of earshot. When he got no answer, Ron looked around and noticed that Kim had vanished. "Kim?"

"Hey Ron."

Ron poked his head out of the booth and saw someone from the shop that was next to him waving at him. "Hey Lisa, how goes the precious metal business?"

The pre-teen brown-haired female rolled her eyes, "Going great, thanks." She recomposed herself, "If you're looking for Kim, I almost ran into her in the break room, she seemed kinda upset. Did it have something to do with that fit that other girl threw?"

"Yeah, she and Kim kinda have this never-ending rivalry going on." Ron sighed, "Lisa, can you take over for me for a sec? I'm gonna go check on Kim."

Lisa nodded, her short brown hair bobbing up and down as she skipped over to the tentmaker's shop. "Make it quick ok? I'm not used to being here."

"No sweat kiddo." Ron mussed her hair which made her laugh, and then he rushed into the crowd that was already quite occupied with whatever shop they were currently at. Even Junior had yet to notice Bonnie's absence, as he was thoroughly fascinated by the sounds being made by the shofar at the music shop. "That ram horn has Junior totally hypnotized...maybe I should learn to play the shofar then." Putting that in the back of his mind for now, Ron squeezed through the crowded path and finally managed to inch his way towards the break room, which was simply a hole in the wall hidden by a burlap curtain.

"I mean seriously Rufus, why'd he have to pick _that _name?"

Ron froze before he could open the curtain. _"Huh?"_

Inside, Kim was busy drinking out of a small water bottle which Ron's pet naked mole rat Rufus had handed to her, as he had been assigned to be the official break room tenant, in exchange for cheese later on of course. She took a quick swig and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, "I get that Ron's trying his best to keep us both in character, but doesn't he realize how _embarrassing _these names are? There's a reason kids in America have _normal _names. Even _I _can't pronounce Hephiba...Hephi-never mind." Kim shook her head, "And then _Bonnie _of all people shows up, and he uses the name in front of her? What was he thinking?"

Ron's face fell, and with eyes downcast and heart all but broken, he dragged himself back to his booth and prepared for the final crowd of the night, as it was almost time to close down. "Thanks Lisa, really appreciate it." he said in a monotone voice.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Lisa looked up at Ron in concern, "You didn't find her?"

"Hmm?" Ron blinked a few times before relinquishing a small smile and mussing Lisa's hair again, "No, no, I found her. Everything's cool. Just tired I suppose, it's been a long night."

Lisa smiled, "Don't worry Ron, this is the last group, then we can relax!" Lisa rushed back over to the precious metal shop next door, leaving Ron with his thoughts.

_"Last group..." _Ron shook his head, _"Ok Stoppable...serious face time, you can mope later."_

As soon as the last group left, mope is exactly what he did. After blowing out all the candles in the shop, leaving only the hidden light bulb for him to see by, Ron trudged through the break room and headed to the church building to go up to the costume room and change into his regular clothing. Once there, he saw Kim, still dressed in her garb, talking with one of the girls from the basket shop.

"Hey Ron!" Kim waved.

Ron pretended not to hear her, and instead grabbed his backpack and started walking off to the bathroom to wash his feet and change.

"Ron?" Kim frowned, "Did he not hear me?" she asked the girl.

"Dunno...kinda looks like Ron was down in the dumps, I heard that girl gave him a real hard time about your name and he had to chase her off." the girl smiled, "Also heard he did awesome, never broke character once!" the girl waved and ran off to get a snack, leaving Kim to think.

"I've gotta find out what's wrong." Kim was about to rush off, but she suddenly found herself on the floor as she'd bounced into a rather large woman, "Oops, sorry about that Jane!"

The rotund woman smiled and held out a hand to help Kim up, "Not to worry Kim, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate you coming to help on such short notice...although I am curious, what happened that I had to send a guard to your shop?"

Kim scowled, "Oh, one of my old high school rivals came and made fun of the name Ron gave me."

"Ahh, Bonnie Rockwaller." Kim was stunned that Jane knew, and the short and stubby woman smiled, her face seemingly more charming while she was dressed in her Israelite guise, "Oh don't be so surprised, Bonnie's mom volunteers in the kitchen for us this time of year, usually we wind up having to have the guards 'arrest' her once a year to get her to behave."

"It wouldn't have happened if Ron hadn't used that name he gave me, then he probably would've been able to diffuse the whole situation a lot faster."

Jane frowned, "That's twice you've mentioned that. What was he calling you that bothered you so much?"

"Hepheeza or something like that," Kim made a face, "I can't even pronounce it, it's so...I dunno, I'm not sure how to describe it."

"Did you mean Hephzibah?"

Kim snapped her fingers, "That's it! I mean really, can you believe it?"

Jane's frown deepened, "I think now I understand what happened...could you come here just for a minute Kim?" Jane walked over to a small bench and patted the seat next to her, and Kim obediently sat down. "Kim, do you know about how names have meanings?"

"Yeah..." Kim said unsurely.

"Well...I think Ron might have picked your name to be special, because what he named you tonight has a very strong meaning to him."

Kim scoffed a little, "What could be so special about the name Heh-v-zee-buh?" Kim had to sound it out.

Jane gave a sad smile, and patted Kim's hand in a motherly fashion, "The name Hephzibah means 'my delight is in her' in Hebrew."

Kim mouthed the meaning before her eyes widened and she felt a hitch in her throat, "You mean..."

Jane nodded, "He called you Hephzibah because his delight is in you Kim." Jane turned her head away from the redhead and looked straight ahead. "You know Lisa came and told me that Ron seemed depressed after coming from the break room near the end of the night."

"Ron never went into..." Kim's eyes widened again, and the feeling of regret in her heart was starting to overwhelm her. "Oh no." she breathed, "Ron must have heard me talking to Rufus about the name...I wasn't really thrilled with it _before _Bonnie showed up..." Kim put her face in her hands and leaned her elbows against her knees, "Jane, I did a bad thing."

The event leader patted the petite young woman's back, "It's ok Kim, you couldn't have known. But now you've got to make things right."

With eyes starting to shimmer with unshed tears, Kim nodded and got up to go and chase her boyfriend down. "Thank you Jane."

"Wait!"

Kim turned around, "What is it?"

The large woman slowly stood up and took off Kim's hair wrap, "I think we can do without that now, now go get him."

Kim smiled and turned to leave, but then she looked over her shoulder at the motherly figure she'd decided was a really good friend. "Jane...what's the name Amnon mean?"

Jane smiled, "It means faithful and loyal." Jane chuckled a little, "Somehow, it makes sense he'd call himself that."

"More than you know." Kim said to herself as she finally started crying. She hastily wiped her tears and fixed her hair to the best of her ability, "Thank you again Jane, for everything." Not even waiting for a response, Kim rushed out of the room and down the corridor to the bathrooms where Ron had headed.

As for Ron, he was still trudging, his trusty pet Rufus patting his cheek in comfort, "Maybe I should've just told Kim what it meant...maybe that would've made things a little better."

"Oh, sorry." Rufus squeaked sadly, putting his paws over his little mole rat heart.

"I mean, I could've picked any ol' ordinary name for her but...Kim deserves more than ordinary...way more..." Ron had looked up and noticed Kim standing in the hallway door, her hair framing her face and her hands behind her back. "Kim?"

"Amnon." Kim walked up to Ron and hugged him tight, a little nervous when Ron didn't immediately reciprocate. "I know what it means Amnon...can you ever forgive me for being such a fool my husband?" she looked into his eyes, her own eyes once again brimming with tears.

"K-Kim...w-why are you still talkin' like that, I mean, the show's over until tomorrow night."

"That is not my name." Kim breathed, "Call me by my name...the name _you _gave me."

Ron felt a light turn on in his head, and he realized what was happening. "You found out what the name means?"

Kim nodded, "And I know what yours means as well Amnon."

A loving smile slowly grew on Ron's face, and the young blonde wrapped his arms around the redhead's waist, indulging himself by putting a little extra effort into it due to the garb Kim was still wearing. "I wouldn't mind being husband and wife again tomorrow night." he whispered.

"Only if you will have me Amnon."

Ron wasted no time in kissing her, ignoring the taste of kerosene on them due to them both breathing it in all night. When they parted, they looked into each other's eyes before turning towards the window that showed a glorious display of stars, twinkling in the Colorado night. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Kim just smiled, closed her eyes and nuzzled into Ron's chest. "I love you Amnon, my loyal and faithful companion for life."

Ron stroked Kim's long red hair, burying his nose into it and catching the faint smell of lavender invading his senses. Smiling into it, Ron mumbled, "I love you too Hephzibah, in whom my delight abides."  
>_<p>

**A/N: So yeah...there you have it. My original idea for the contest entry was going to be something else entirely, but then I figured I'd take some real life experience and channel it through into this story to make the entry unique as I've never seen one quite like this. Every year, I volunteer at a different church that puts on an incredible show for five nights right around Christmastime. If the actors remain in character, it really does seem like you're in the Bethlehem marketplace...well, as they see it.**

**I have had to deal with Ron's predicament before. There are a lot of people who come through the gates with the seemingly sole intention of trying to make the actors go out of character...and that's when I have my fun. I consider myself a master of banter (when I'm in costume) and I love when brats come in and try to mess me up. They always fail lol.**

**Now back to the story stuff...well, Ron is a Messianic Jew...it's never specified what kind of a Jew Ron is, and to the best of my knowledge and research, Messianics are people who follow the Jewish customs, but believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior. If I'm wrong, I apologize.**

**The names, had to look around for a while, I was gonna give Kim a name that meant beautiful, but when I ran into the name Hephzibah, the whole story premise clicked for me. Ron takes delight in having Kim around, and Ron (Amnon) is forever loyal and faithful to her. It was too perfect.**

**Anyways, I've ranted on long enough. It's a little late, but Merry Christmas to you all, and a Happy New Year as well. I hope you've enjoyed this story of mine and I hope you review and let me know what you think (no flames por favor)**


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